Joysticks and other hand-operated controllers, for example, may include a knob or other input device that can be operated by a thumb or other finger to control, for example, a cursor or other user interface element based on the motion (displacement) of the control device. For example, moving the knob forward or back may move a cursor up or down, or moving the knob left or right may move the cursor left or right.
In a typical joystick or similar hand-operated controllers, an input is determined by using magnetic or other position sensors to sense a position to which the joystick or other actuator has been moved within a housing.